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This paper focuses on the first human settlement of the Kohgiluyeh region in southwestern Iran in relation to regional environmental conditions. At an altitude between 500 and 3500 m asl, a range of different ecozones and diversified resources available at short distance compose this highly mountainous region. The first sedentary occupation occurred here during the 8th millennium BC. Applying remote sensing, GIS and geo-topographic landscape analyses to contextualize the available dataset, our study illustrates that in the southern portion of the region fertile lands played a pivotal role for the first settled communities and the stability of their subsistence strategies. Farming became even more important during the later Neolithic phase. Furthermore, Neolithic sites are recorded along the bottom of open slopes, at locations with direct access to the combined resources of the plains and the hilly lands. The first occupation of the region is also documented at high elevation up to 1600 m asl, along narrow valley formations, where limited areas are available for farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lunar regolith on the surface of the Moon has gained great attention as a resource for many proposed lunar exploration projects. Not only is it serving as the ground support for construction projects on the Moon, but it is also the most accessible construction material for building the human habitat and a key component in in-situ resource utilization efforts. Therefore, gaining a fundamental understanding of the characteristics of lunar regolith is a critical step in the success of lunar exploration projects. However, it is challenging and expensive to obtain samples of lunar regolith directly, or conduct physical experiments on lunar regolith samples in situ. Hence, investigative alternatives, such as laboratory experiments and numerical simulation tools are very important means of investigating the properties of lunar regolith. This paper presents a comprehensive study on lunar highlands simulant (LHS-1), using both laboratory experimentation and discrete element method (DEM) simulations. In the laboratory experiment, triaxial tests were conducted on samples of LHS-1 to explore the stress–strain behaviors of the lunar regolith simulant. Correspondingly, 3D DEM simulations of the triaxial tests were conducted to generate the initial model parameters and the Taguchi method was performed to obtain the optimal calibrated input parameters of the DEM model. With the calibrated parameters, 3D DEM model of the cone penetration into LHS-1 was then built to study the responses of the regolith simulant during the penetration process. The effects of porosity and vertical stress on the tip resistance and sleeve friction profiles were investigated for both terrestrial and lunar environments to study the correlation between the in-situ state of the regolith simulants with the force reactions during the penetration. • Geotechnical properties of LHS-1 simulants were characterized using a set of laboratory tests. • Triaxial tests were used to calibrate contact parameters of DEM models using Taguchi method. • Cone penetration simulations were performed using discrete element modeling. • Correlation between penetration responses and in-situ state of regolith simulants was evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-cover information reflects basic Earth's surface environments and is critical to human settlements. As a well-established deep learning architecture, the fully convolutional network has achieved impressive progress in various land-cover mapping tasks. However, most research has focused on designing powerful encoders, ignoring the exploration of decoders. The existing handcrafted decoders are relatively simple and lack flexibility, limiting the generalizability for complex remote sensing scenes. In this paper, we propose a Land-cOVEr mapping Neural Architecture Search framework (LoveNAS) to automatically find efficient decoders that are compatible with the encoders and tasks. Specifically, LoveNAS introduces a hierarchical dense search space, including densely connected layer-level and multi-scale operation-level search spaces. The search spaces contain independent connection and operation fusion strategies, facilitating sufficient interaction of multi-scale features. After searching based on large-scale datasets, a series of pre-trained encoders and adaptive decoders are obtained. These can be smoothly applied to multi-scene tasks using weight-transfer network training. Experimental results on normal and disaster scenes shows that LoveNAS outperforms 16 handcrafted architectures and NAS methods. Some searched structures coincide with the existing advanced artificial designs, revealing the potential value of LoveNAS in network design and guidance. Group's website: http://rsidea.whu.edu.cn/resource%5fsharing.htm. GitHub page: https://github.com/Junjue-Wang/LoveNAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the increase in different types of diseases in human habitats, demands for designing various types of drugs are also increasing. Protein and its structure play a very important role in drug design. Therefore researchers from different areas like mathematics, medicines, and computer science are teaming up for getting better solutions in the said field. In this paper, we have discussed different methods of secondary and tertiary protein structure prediction (PSP), along with the limitations of different approaches. Different types of datasets used in PSP are also discussed here. This paper also tells about different performance measures to evaluate the prediction accuracy of PSP methods. Different software's/servers are available for download, which are used to find the protein structures for the input protein sequence. These softwares will also help to compare the performance of any new algorithm with other available methods. Details of those softwares are also mentioned in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the body of knowledge on the first human occupations predating MIS 21 in the Atapuerca karst system. These occupations are described in terms of their ecological, cultural and technological context based on the Sima del Elefante and Gran Dolina sites. This paper focuses on the lower units of these sedimentary infills, specifically Unit TE9 of Sima del Elefante and Unit TD4 of Gran Dolina. In addition, evidence of the earliest human settlements in Europe is reviewed and hypotheses about the dynamics and intensity of that settlement are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of a permanent human habitat on a planetary body other than the Earth is an idea introduced many decades ago, which became even more significant after the landing of the first humans on the Moon with the Apollo missions. Today's rampant technological advances combined with ambitious missions, such as the Insight mission on Mars and the Artemis program for the Moon, render the vision of space colonization more realistic than ever, as it constantly gains momentum. There is a considerable number of publications across several disciplines pertaining to the exploration of Lunar and Martian environments, to those planets' soil properties, and to the design of the first habitable modules. The scope of this paper is to present a meticulous selection of the most significant publications within the scientific areas related to: (a) geotechnical engineering aspects, including the mechanical properties and chemical composition of Lunar and Martian regolith samples and simulants, along with elements of anchoring and rigid pads as potential forms of foundation; (b) ground motions generated by different types of Moonquakes and meteoroid impacts; (c) the different concepts and types of extraterrestrial (ET) structures (generic, inflatable, deployable, 3D-printed), as well as overall views of proposed ET habitats. Apart from the details given in the main text of this paper, a targeted effort was made to summarize and compile most of this information in representative tables and present it in chronological order, so as to showcase the evolution of human thinking as regards ET structures. • Design of a permanent human habitat. •Exploration of Lunar and Martian environments. •Mechanical properties and chemical composition of Lunar and Martian regolith. •Ground motions generated by moonquakes and meteoroid impacts. •Types of extraterrestrial structures (generic, inflatable, deployable, 3D-printed). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building a beautiful and livable countryside is essential to farmers' wellbeing, contributing to the development of New Socialist Countryside in China. Few of the existing studies have established a sound theoretical framework to evaluate rural human settlements from the perspective of farmers, who are the major beneficiaries of the rural human settlements. Therefore, this paper establishes a theoretical framework to evaluate both hard and soft rural human settlements qualitatively and quantitatively. Based on surveys from 6 provinces (cities) in central and eastern China, the theoretical framework is tested using Structural Equation Model (SEM). The empirical results show that the surveyed farmers are vaguely unsatisfied with their local rural human settlements, making improvement a must. Moreover, there is a significant correlation between rural sanitation, housing condition, rural infrastructure, farmers' economic burden, social services and rural human settlements, with rural sanitation and social services ranking at the top among the hard and soft human settlement indexes, respectively. Thus, the government should prioritize rural sanitation and social services to improve hard and soft human settlements, respectively. The discussions in this paper could provide solid foundations for policy makers to effectively improve rural human settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigating traditional village human settlement suitability by multi-source data. • Propose a model for evaluating human settlement suitability at the village scale. • Exploring the drivers of human settlement suitability by geographical detectors. • Investigating influencing mechanisms of human settlement suitability by MGWR method. Traditional villages are invaluable cultural heritage sites in China, reflecting a rich historical and cultural legacy. However, rapid urbanization has led to the destruction and loss of numerous traditional villages. The remaining traditional villages also face challenges in preserving their original living environment. In order to assess human settlement suitability and identify potential factors, this paper proposes a village-scale model for assessing human settlement suitability. This paper used an eight-factor evaluation system, multi-criteria decision analysis and spatial visualization methods to evaluate the scores and spatial characteristics of human settlement suitability of 688 traditional villages in Hunan Province. This paper also examines the factors affecting cluster suitability using geographic detectors and multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) models. This study found that the quality of human settlement suitability varied widely. The overall quality is low and very few areas achieve medium or higher scores. Among them, the traditional villages in Huaihua city, Zhangjiajie junction, southern Hengyang city, northwestern Yongzhou city, central Chenzhou city and Changsha city exhibit higher scores. Secondly, the commercial facility density and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are important factors driving the spatial changes. And there is a significant interaction effect between them. Additional factors impacting spatial variation include annual average temperature, per capita disposable income, and average house price. This comprehensive assessment reveals spatial characteristics and potential influencing factors. The results of the study provide an empirical basis and decision-making foundation for the protection and development of traditional villages, which will ultimately contribute to the sustainable development of China's rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study provides a new conceptual framework to account for pro-poor economic development. • This is achieved by extending political settlements analysis with a critical investigation of growth–poverty linkages. • We apply this framework to the recent trajectories of Laos and Rwanda. • We show to what extent Laos and Rwanda have implemented pro-poor development strategies and how they have done so. • This is the first comparative study of the political economy of Laos and Rwanda. Political settlements analysis is a framework that helps us understand different development trajectories. While it has been used to study the politics of pro-poor growth, there has been little explicit engagement with the economic mechanisms that may alleviate or reproduce poverty. This article extends the political settlements approach to that effect and presents a new, integrated framework to account for pro-poor economic development by conceptualizing political conditions as well as key mechanisms – employment and social provision – linking growth and poverty. This framework is empirically applied to scrutinize two recent development 'success stories', those of Laos and Rwanda. Both countries have emerged from a violent past to record over two decades of fast economic growth. The paper assesses how they have done so and to what extent their development strategies have been pro-poor. We demonstrate that the combination of economic growth and of centralized and ideologically committed ruling coalitions has enabled large-scale investments in social service provision that have spearheaded significant reductions in multidimensional poverty in Laos and Rwanda. Moreover, key governance capabilities have enabled both countries to achieve a certain degree of structural change. Yet, this change has been misdirected to extractive industries and hydropower (Laos) and high-end services (Rwanda) with weak employment and limited forward and backward linkages, compounded by a relative lack of productivity growth in the historically more relevant agricultural and manufacturing sectors. This has intensified land pressures and vulnerability, leading to increased inequality in Laos and sustaining already high levels of inequality in Rwanda. Using the ambitious conception of pro-poor development that underpins our integrated framework, we problematize these growth trajectories and argue that neither of them has been pro-poor. We recommend that researchers advance political settlements analysis to examine and strengthen the possibilities for social justice-oriented and bottom-up pro-poor development strategies more systematically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores wellbeing as a central concept in the larger conceptual framework of human settlement planning that combines ongoing debates related to climate change, sustainability, resilience, earth jurisprudence and builds upon similar recent research. As more and more people are living in larger settlements, there is growing a curiosity as well as need to understand what wellbeing is and how it can be understood from the spatial planning perspective. Prominent contemporary global policy documents including the New Urban Agenda (NUA) advocate cities to foster people's wellbeing by incorporating it in planning practices. However, there is a dearth of research that explores wellbeing in human settlements from the spatial planning perspective. This paper presents an interdisciplinary understandings of wellbeing and proposes the wheel of wellbeing in human settlements which consists of four pillars, participation and engagement, access, identity and safety. It also discusses the linkage between wellbeing and sustainable development and argues that by focusing on the wellbeing of people, settlements can become more resilient and sustainable. It further highlights prominent spatial features of wellbeing and the increasing attention that wellbeing is getting in policy formulations. Finally it concludes that even though a universal definition of wellbeing remains arguable, understanding wellbeing in human settlements as a spectrum of attributes and aspects that depend upon their context, can assist in formulating policies that enhance the wellbeing of people and make settlements more sustainable and resilient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper explores the influence of mining activities on towns in Ghana in order to appreciate their political economy and implications for urban planning. It first provides a historical account of the relations between mining activities and emergence of towns. Second, the legal environment informing the development or otherwise of mining towns is presented. Third, implications of mining induced towns on Ghana's urban planning are discussed. Using documentary review and empirical cases of selected mining towns, findings indicate that the political economic situation of Ghana's mining industry has produced and continues to shape affected intermediate towns in five ways: 1) some mining towns are experiencing relative growth, while others are slowly dying; 2) death or complete collapse of mining communities after mining boom 3) changed functions and local economy after mine operations are closed down; 4) emergence of new mining settlements resulting from new investments; and 5) resettlement communities resulting from displacement from the harmful effects of mine operations. These factors have implications for urban planning, and this paper proposes three entry points with implications for other developing countries: a space in Ghana's urban development policy for mining towns; a re-look at the content and focus of corporate social responsibilities of mining firms; and a functional link between growth of mining and urban planning. Highlights • The paper analyses the political economy of mining towns in Ghana. • It provides a historical account of the relations between mining activities and emergence of towns. • The legal environment for the development or otherwise of mining towns is analysed. • The implications of mining induced towns on Ghana's urban planning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Slum upgrading is one of the preferred options in dealing with ubiquitous informality in cities across the world. Drawing on experiences in two African cities namely Harare and Kampala; the article focuses on the role of policy, politics and leadership in slum upgrading. This paper is based on interviews conducted with urban leaders and managers, politicians, slum dwellers federation members and government officials. With regards to slum upgrading, the paper makes three arguments. First, policies guiding upgrading should evolve gradually over time, taking into consideration lessons learned. Second, tensions in party-politics tend to undermine slum upgrading programmes. This is mainly because of the vulnerability of informal settlers who are often used as sources and resources for political agency. Third, leadership at the city level plays a fundamental role in diffusing party-politics and championing inclusive municipal governance, and development. Highlights • Policies guiding upgrading should evolve gradually over time, taking into consideration lessons learned. • Tensions in party-politics tend to undermine slum upgrading programmes • Leadership at the city level plays a key role in diffusing party-politics and championing inclusive municipal governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This paper introduces two essential societal variables (ESV) – global built-up area and global population density. • The two ESVs are the building blocks for quantifying the human societal system as they measure the human presence on Earth. • The two ESVs complement the essential climate variables in modelling climate impact on societies. • The two ESVs are already used in disaster early warning systems, within disaster risk models, in system of indicators and in crisis management. • The two ESVs are also tested for use in system of indicators used to measure progress towards the 2030 Development Agenda. Abstract Scientists use Essential Climate Variables to understand and model the Earth's climate. Complementary to the Climate Variables this paper introduces global built-up area and population density, referred to as Essential Societal Variables, that can be used to model human activities and the impact of climate induced hazards on society. Climate impact scenarios inform policy makers on current and future risk and on the cost for mitigation and adaptation measures. The global built-up area and global population densities are generated from Earth observation image archives and from national population census data in the framework of the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) project. The layers are produced with fine granularity for four epochs: 1975, 1990, 2000 and 2015, and will be updated on a regular basis with open satellite imagery. The paper discusses the relevance of global built-up area and population density for a number of policy areas, in particular to understand regional and global urbanization processes and for use in operational crisis management and risk assessment. The paper also provides examples of global statistics on exposure to natural hazards based on the two ESVs and their use in policy making. Finally, the paper discusses the potential of using population and built-up area for developing indicators to monitor the progress in Agenda 2030 including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the design of a deployable structure, with a background on scientific balloons, in order to simulate a future habitat station for human exploration on the moon. Super Pressure Balloons were considered because of their high resistant to internal pressure due to its lobed shape. This design analysis considers the Lobed pumpkin with lobed cylinder shape for the finite element stress analysis. The produced forms were transformed into structural models in Karamba (Finite Element Analysis) Plugin. Some limitations such as support points, loads, cross-section, and material have been determined for analyzing the stress behaviour of the membrane for the Moon Habitat. Two different shapes are analyzed from a different starting surface and mesh, a relationship between different deployment shape will be compared according to the FE analysis results. The analysis result focuses on the way a designer can interact with the search computational procedure, driving it towards the desired solution. We made a potential sizing assumption regarding the fairing size; we choose SpaceX Falcon Heavy because it has the largest payload fairing internal volume. • Deployable structures based on SPB are highly resistant to internal pressure. • We can increase the volume of SPB without increasing the diameter of balloon. • The force acting on the entire load ropes, proportional to the cross-sectional area, never increase.The high tensile stress resistant design of SPB design makes it a potential candidate for space habitats. • The high tensile stress resistant design of SPB design makes it a potential candidate for space habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and predicting dune erosion is crucial for coastal hazards mitigation, ecosystem preservation, as well as the protection of human settlements and infrastructure along sandy coastlines. However, our knowledge regarding the influence and potential importance of internal sand moisture content on wave-driven dune face erosion processes remains limited. This paper presents the findings from an extensive series of controlled wave flume experiments of eroding, unvegetated dunes, combining a range of wave conditions and water levels. A further variable that is studied directly for the first time is the internal moisture content of the dune. The initial moisture content and its evolving dynamics within the eroding dune face are quantified, revealing this to be a determining factor of the observed erosion rates, the final horizontal erosion distance, and the dune face failure type. Importantly, infiltration into the dune with each wave was not a driving mechanism of observed failures, but rather the rapid increase and then decrease of the phreatic surface within the dune, resulting in excess pore pressures and destabilization of the sediment matrix. Based on these observations two distinct mechanisms of shear failure and resulting dune face slumping are identified for unsaturated dunes corresponding to 'minimum' and 'field capacity' internal moisture content: Type 1 is associated with a circular failure surface in the absence of notching at the base of the dune, while for Type 2, notching is present and the failure surface is vertical. Under fully saturated conditions, the phreatic surface is observed to decouple from the wave runup, with excess water continuously exiting the dune face near the base. This results in rapid shear failure with no notching (Type 3). Significantly, dunes with saturated initial pore moisture content above the capillary fringe are observed to have up to 35 % greater erosion potential, consistently receding further landward than the two unsaturated counterparts as well as undergoing slumping in the absence of wave impact. A new conceptual framework is presented, comprising of a three-phase erosion sequence that directly links dune face failure mechanisms to wave runup and prevailing groundwater conditions. • A series of controlled wave flume experiments is conducted to examine dune erosion processes. • Internal dune moisture shown to affect the rate and magnitude of dune erosion • Internal dune moisture determines the failure mechanics of the dune face. • Saturated dunes observed to erode faster and to a further landward extent by 20–35 % • A conceptual framework incorporating hydrodynamic forcing and internal moisture dynamics is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal zones attract human settlement, business and industry, and are instrumental to the functioning of societies both in coastal states and the wider global community. However, the oceans and coasts are under growing pressure as human practices change, populations rise and climate change impacts increase. In managing coastal regions, high quality data forms the basis of rational decision-making. Large volumes of ‘triple bottom line’ data exists representing a wide variety of environmental, social, and economic themes in coastal regions. Such data is especially crucial to development of environmental risk evaluations for the coast. The momentum driving the Open Source data movement across the world is accelerating and consequently, huge quantities of data are becoming freely available to the public. This presents a valuable opportunity for coastal managers, policy makers and land planners, who need to evaluate the full implications of their choices. Decision-makers frequently need to draw on many disparate datasets. However, this can be complicated by many factors, including a lack of awareness of the full range of datasets available. This paper seeks to explore this area, taking the UK as an example, to reveal how currently available open data sources relate to coastal management decision-making. Environmental risk management is a cross-cutting theme, relevant to all areas of coastal management. As such, this topic is discussed and addressed within a case study focusing on the vulnerable coastal region of East Anglia. In collation and analysis of coastal data Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can play an important role, in line with this GIS approaches were utilised within the case study. The case study led to development of a conceptual framework which can be applied to future coastal risk assessments, using Open Source data. The UK is currently at the forefront of the Open Source data movement and as such it is used as an example within this paper, however the issues addressed have international relevance, and the UK perspective is used to illustrate wider opportunities, resulting from freely available data sources, extending to management of coastal regions globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal settlements, where mostly the urban poor reside, tend to be located in hotspots of natural hazards such as floods, fire, earthquakes and tsunamis. The devastating impacts of these natural hazards on such settlements can be attributed to the higher levels of physical, economic, social and environmental vulnerability in conjunction with inadequate and poor level of disaster preparedness. Conceptualizing a detailed risk profile, in the context of informal settlement characteristics presents a starting point to which the impacts posed by environmental hazards can be addressed effectively. This paper develops a theoretical framework through literature review coupling the concepts of “disaster hazards”, “vulnerability” and “informal settlements”. The findings suggest that the policy environment (environmental/land use planning and communication) impacting the informal settlement characteristics (demographic, financial, social/poetical and locational/environmental) is key to managing disaster risk profile in informal settlements. The paper concludes by identifying five theoretical propositions that can assist in disaster preparedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In natural disaster and man-made conflict scenarios, livelihoods, assets, community networks and relationships get destroyed and in many areas, lives and communities are devastated. Re-settling these communities and providing them the essential support to adapt to the new or changed environments has been a major challenge for governments. Taking into consideration case studies from two South Asian countries, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, this paper explores the displacement and re-location cycle experienced and the impact disaster, conflict and reconciliation has on families, community and stakeholder relationships and networks as they re-build their lives in the re-settlement process. The case studies were selected from available literature to focus on different kinds of natural disasters and civil conflicts. The paper focuses on characteristics of resilient communities and how these characteristics have aided the recovery and re-settlement. It also identifies attributes that are inherent in communities that have undergone disaster and displacement and explores how these attributes have helped communities in re-building their lives. From the literature and the case study results and information, it is seen that topics of safety, security, and livelihoods summarises the core needs that are important for transitional settlement and shelter. Having ownership of assets, a shelter or dwelling unit or land is also important in the re-settlement process. These requirements vary according to the ethnicity, religion and culture and the challenges for the relief agencies are to provide alternative solutions that match these requirements in the short and long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A resilient city is a sustainable network of physical systems, constructed urban form, and human communities. Traditional or vernacular built form evolves to achieve higher human comfort by using locally available building materials and construction technology and is more responsive to the geographic conditions. In contrast to the highly bureaucratized building process in modern built form, vernacular architecture is more climate responsive. A typical traditional building of earth emits fewer greenhouse gases, consumes less energy, and maintains a high level of internal thermal comfort. Resilient urban systems must also have resilient communities. Traditional built form results in the creation of social spaces, promotes adherence to socio-cultural value systems and imbibes a feeling of social cohesion. Modern construction techniques, greater energy consumption and the loss of diversity of architectural forms would have significant implications on urban resilience. The paper aims to trace the changing built form in a small settlement of West Bengal and the resultant loss of climate responsive and socially interactive spaces. Based on primary data sources and field observations, the paper also looks into the implications of the loss of such spaces on urban resilience and assesses the perception of the locals who prefer modernization of built form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have found that the frequency, magnitude and spatio-temporal distribution of droughts and floods have significantly increased in many regions of the world. Yet, most of the methods used in detecting trends in hydrological extremes 1) focus on either floods or droughts, and/or 2) base their assessment on characteristics that, even though useful for trend identification, cannot be directly used in decision making, e.g. integrated water resources management and disaster risk reduction. In this paper, we first discuss the need for a consistent approach to assess changes on both floods and droughts, and then propose a method based on the theory of runs and threshold levels. Flood and drought changes were assessed in terms of frequency, length and surplus/deficit volumes. This paper also presents an example application using streamflow data from two hydrometric stations along the Po River basin (Italy), Piacenza and Pontelagoscuro, and then discuss opportunities and challenges of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To settle in a given area, man has to deal with the surrounding environment and the geomorphological processes that shaped it. Landscape defines the available resources and landscape changes are related to tectonics, hydrography and variations in climate and biota. To cope with environmental limitations, man developed efficient techniques and capabilities to survive, making the best use of natural resources. The Fars arc (southern Iran) is known for being the cradle of some of the earliest civilizations in Iran. It comprehends the southeastern sector of the Zagros Mountains, a Cenozoic orogen formed after the collision between Arabia and central Iran. The landscape is dominated by a series of folding structures which isolate internal basins. This configuration, together with arid climate conditions, limited biological resources, and the occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, water salinity, biological/climatic changes and droughts, all dictated the development and pattern of human settlements. This paper aims to give a broad overview on the deep influence exerted by geomorphological processes, such as tectonics, earthquakes, landslides, sea level fluctuations, and climate changes, on the emergence and development of human settlements in the Fars arc which, with its long-lasting and documented civilization history, represents an ideal test site to study the interaction between nature and man. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past plant diversity dynamics can provide a historical perspective on biodiversity change and ecosystem dynamics as a guide to conservation management in the future. Pollen analysis is one of the most widely used approaches to reconstruct plant diversity change through time, but the representativeness of pollen diversity to plant diversity is not yet fully understood and especially in open landscapes. In this paper, we compare pollen assemblages from topsoil in the open landscapes of the Tibetan Plateau with the surrounding vegetation to investigate their compositional similarity and the correlations between their diversity (richness and evenness), and to evaluate the influence of climate variables, landscape characteristics, and human disturbance on the pollen diversity. The results show that pollen assemblages vary obviously in different vegetation types and they can represent their surrounding plant communities at low taxonomic levels. Pollen richness boarders a better match with plant richness than pollen evenness with plant evenness across the whole study area, but the correlation is weak (r adj 2 < 0.2, p < 0.001). Transforming plants into their pollen equivalents has little improvement for the correlations between pollen and plant richness/evenness. Pollen richness and evenness can capture well the trend in plant richness and evenness along the vegetation gradient, suggesting that they can be used as gamma (landscape scale) rather than alpha (local scale) diversity metrics in the study area. Mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT), and patch richness (PatchS) are positively associated with pollen richness. MAP, PatchS, and human disturbance (HD) are significantly predictors for pollen evenness. These confirm that pollen richness and evenness can provide insights into past plant diversity dynamics and help evaluating the effects of climate and habitat changes and human disturbance on long timescales. • Pollen assemblages represent surrounding plant communities at low taxonomic levels. • Pollen diversity is reliable proxy for plant diversity at the landscape scale. • Vegetation shift is an important prerequisite in studying past plant diversity. • Pollen-equivalent transformation cannot improve pollen-plant diversity correlations. • Pollen diversity can indicate changes in past climate and habitat conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Earthquakes pose a looming threat to the large-scale preservation of historic centres. • Despite regulations, the preservation-safety divide has not been solved. • The multiple dimensions of vulnerability in historic centres are examined. • Mitigation measures are discussed with reference to the current Italian DRR strategy. Earthquakes pose a looming threat to human life and habitats, as well as the large-scale preservation of urban cultural heritage assets located in historic centres. These areas, worldwide perceived as cultural, social and economic resources for communities, are experiencing a progressive decline and deterioration. In the last decades, a series of seismic events caused considerable casualties and irreversible damage to historic centres in Italy, with permanent loss of many severely damaged cultural assets that could not be fully recovered or replaced. This problem underlines the need of undertaking further proactive measures to limit the impact of any potential earthquake on urban cultural heritage in historic centres. The characterisation of vulnerability in its multiple dimensions is a key issue for the effective implementation of vulnerability reduction and mitigation actions. This paper contests the enacting of seismic risk reduction programmes that are mainly based on the estimation of physical vulnerabilities and do not account for non-physical ones. The discussion is based on the Pressure and Release model that represents the progression of vulnerability in terms of unsafe conditions, dynamic pressures and root causes. The study refers to the historic centres in the Region of Tuscany (Italy) and considers a wider perspective on physical, socio-economic and institutional vulnerabilities. The results allows for outlining the agenda for action for risk reduction and establishing a set of mitigation strategies on the basis of the expected impacts of seismic events on historic centres. Intervention measures are integrated into the current framework for disaster risk reduction and aim to overcome the building-focused approach towards a large-scale systematic one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple transitions between gravity levels will occur during planetary exploration missions. In reaction to these gravitational transitions, physiological adaptation will be initiated. However, the physiological effects of long-duration exposures to hypogravity and hypergravity are poorly understood. In this review we present an overview of how humans perceive gravity, review sex-based differences in adaptation to changes in gravity, and introduces rather limited evidence currently available related to the effects of partial gravity. The paper then argues that there is a need for more research to better understand the extent and dynamics of physiological adaptation mechanisms during gravity level transitions in spaceflight and proposes a need for artificial gravity (AG) as a multi-system countermeasure and explore the efficacy of AG as countermeasure between short and very long-arm centrifuges. Discussed here are the effects of acute short-arm AG application. The topical review also discusses the usage of chronic AG application via the innovative large-radius Hypergravity Human Habitat, H 3 , concept. • Effects of long-duration exposures to hypo- and hypergravity poorly understood. • Here provided is an overview of how humans perceive gravity. • Reviewed are sex-based differences in adaptation to changes in gravity. • Evidence currently available related to effects of partial gravity is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undoubtedly, sustainable development has inspired a generation of scholars and practitioners in different disciplines into a quest for the immense opportunities created by the development of sustainable urban forms for human settlements that will enable built environments to function in a more constructive and efficient way. However, there are still significant challenges that need to be addressed and overcome. The issue of such forms has been problematic and difficult to deal with, particularly in relation to the evaluation and improvement of their contribution to the goals of sustainable development. As it is an urban world where the informational and physical landscapes are increasingly being merged, sustainable urban forms need to embrace and leverage what current and future ICT has to offer as innovative solutions and sophisticated methods so as to thrive—i.e. advance their contribution to sustainability. The need for ICT of the new wave of computing to be embedded in such forms is underpinned by the recognition that urban sustainability applications are deemed of high relevance to the contemporary research agenda of computing and ICT. To unlock and exploit the underlying potential, the field of sustainable urban planning is required to extend its boundaries and broaden its horizons beyond the ambit of the built form of cities to include technological innovation opportunities. This paper explores and substantiates the real potential of ICT of the new wave of computing to evaluate and improve the contribution of sustainable urban forms to the goals of sustainable development. This entails merging big data and context-aware technologies and their applications with the typologies and design concepts of sustainable urban forms to achieve multiple hitherto unrealized goals. In doing so, this paper identifies models of smart sustainable city and their technologies and applications and models of sustainable urban form and their design concepts and typologies. In addition, it addresses the question of how these technologies and applications can be amalgamated with these design concepts and typologies in ways that ultimately evaluate and improve the contribution of sustainable urban forms to the goals of sustainable development. The overall aim of this paper suits a mix of three methodologies: literature review, thematic analysis, and secondary (qualitative) data analysis to achieve different but related objectives. The study identifies four technologies and two classes of applications pertaining to models of smart sustainable city as well as three design concepts and four typologies related to models of sustainable urban form. Finally, this paper proposes a Matrix to help scholars and planners in understanding and analyzing how and to what extent the contribution of sustainable urban forms to sustainability can be improved through ICT of the new wave of computing as to the underlying novel technologies and their applications, as well as a data-centric approach into investigating and evaluating this contribution and a simulation method for strategically optimizing it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern wars generate devastating effects on the environment by using chemical, biological, radioactive weapons. Toxic effects persist for long time on war fields. Negative environmental impacts such as desertification, migrant masses, depletion of natural resources (food, water, wood, etc.), and induced biodiversity produce, in turn, conflicts. This paper aims at i) identifying the consequences of conflicts and wars on the built environment with special reference to the industrial and residential buildings in urban areas; ii) determining the environmental impact of the procurement and use of natural resources and materials for the reconstruction of human settlements; iii) describing the results of this contribution according to their practical use. The research starts with a critical analysis of international examples related to modern wars. Contemporary situations of environmental degradation also related to major natural disasters that have altered the context in which they happened have been then analysed. Moreover, results of some significant interventions of environmental clean-up and building reconstruction have been examined, together with guidelines of the international humanitarian organizations on aspects of health and quality of life in areas with depleted environment. Results of these studies permit to suggest a post war methodology for the revitalization of the territory with restocking and monitored rebuilding, coordinated with contextual recovery of ecosystems. Construction techniques, with characteristics of resilience, habitability and sustainability are finally proposed. These solutions must also strive for reintegration of personal property and for the definitive localization of residents respecting their traditions and culture. Overall, this paper gives an operative contribution to one of the most important problems of humanity, which can be useful to future researches on territories marked by the environmental degradation caused by wars. Recovered environments, made sustainable, may help to understand that the real solution is avoiding wars and their deleterious effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent interest in modern climate change has stimulated extensive scientific study into past societal responses to climate variability. However, examining climate change and society as a historical narrative drawing upon politics, economics, and settlement patterns does not provide a direct link between climate and society. Given that most inhabitants of the premodern world engaged in agriculture and/or pastoralism, examining chronological correlations between climate and foodways, not as a historical narrative but as a longterm socioenvironmental process, has the potential to identify direct societal adaptations to a changing environment. From South Greece there is evidence for drier conditions at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Is the disappearance of writing, art, and many known settlements at the end of the Bronze Age an example of collapse in the face of inability to adapt to climate change? This is a difficult question to answer given the coarse resolution of many of our archaeological and climatic datasets. Settlement faunal records suggest that food production systems became increasingly homogenous in Late Bronze Age Greece, potentially due to an elite control over various production systems that promoted intensification of certain products. However, in the first millennium B.C.E., animal husbandry, specifically, and food production systems, more broadly, became more heterogenous, and a proportional increase in goats in areas with less rainfall was likely an adaptive response to the drier climate. This paper examines the adaptive relationship between foodways and climate and argues for a process driven approach when explaining social responses to ancient climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on palaeoenvironmental conditions and climate variability during the Upper Late Pleistocene (c. 28,000–11,700 cal BP) in SW Europe (Iberian Peninsula) and their influence on human settlement patterns. All the palaeoenvironmental and archaeological sequences available for this period are analysed, together with a new palaeoenvironmental study related to a key deposit: Verdeospesoa mire (northern Iberian Peninsula). The multiproxy analysis (pollen, spores, non-pollen palynomorphs, magnetic susceptibility, organic content and macrocharcoal) of this sequence, with the support of six Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates, shows the climatic variability of that period, with some dry/cold and humid/temperate episodes. While in vast regions of central and northern Europe very few archaeological sites of this age are known, in the Iberian Peninsula no occupation gaps have been detected in all this period, supporting the idea of SW Europe as a glacial refugium for human groups during the worst periods of the Upper Late Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review paper presents a comprehensive study of all available up to date anthracological assemblages recovered from 79 archaeological settlements of the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods from the loess regions of southern-Poland. The aim of the research is to reconstruct the character of the woodland developed in the loess belt (1) in the Atlantic phase, with a focus on the primeval forests, the successive cultural phases and their impact on local forests, and (2) in the Subatlantic phase, characterized by a late-migrating of trees such as hornbeam, beech and fir. For the Early Neolithic period, related with the first appearance of the stable and agrarian settlement, the research aims at testing the hypothesis about the existence of open oak-dominated forests in the Atlantic phase , with patches of steppe-like vegetation. The anthracological data indicate that indeed open canopy forests prevailed in the loess-mantled areas and this result has important implications for understanding the expansion of the first farmers into Central Europe, who settled mainly in loess belt zones. It is likely that open oakwoods played a significant role in the selection of the landscape suitable for settle down as well as was an indicator of rich soils developed on loess-substratum. Finally, the last-arriving trees in southern Poland, that are principal constituents of present-day forests communities, appeared in high shares in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, but became important forest components mostly in the Carpathian Foothills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results of morphological and petrological analyses of ground stone tool assemblage acquired from late Bronze Age settlement site at Niemczańska, Wrocław, Poland. The collection of six tools is functionally and petrologically diverse but comparable in terms of physical and mechanical properties, i.e. hardness and wear resistance. Exclusively hard and quartz-rich rocks were selected for tools production (granites, gneisses and sandstones). We applied complementary approaches: polarizing optical microscopy with modal mineralogical analyses, scanning electron microscopy and electron probe microanalyser for the petrographic and raw material provenance study. The results of our observations lead to the conclusion that raw material was collected locally from the surface deposits associated with glacial erratics brought to the area during MIS-16 to Saalian glaciations from Sweden and Åland Islands. Our observations confirm that erratics were a common source of raw material for the Odra Basin populations during the Bronze Age instead of autochthonic Sudetic or allogenic materials. Agricultural (grinder and grinding disc) and non-agricultural (whetstone, pad/fragment of a grinding disc, grinder and smoother) functions are recognised, based on morphological observations and use-wear traces. Three activity zones are distinguished at the site – production, habitation and possible cult zone with lithic tools spread within production and habitation zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counteracting law violation and the haphazard occupation of marginal land as an explanation for how risk becomes inherent to informal urbanisation, I demonstrate in this paper that hazardous conditions are an outcome of practices that seek to comply with planning law. Risk on the steep slopes of Lima is reproduced by unchanged and inflexible planning regulations and instruments, and not by their absence. Building on scholarship at the nexus of planning and informality, and borrowing from socio-spatial and legal geography, I argue that planning law and legal texts regulate the spatial layouts of human settlements in ways that produce concrete abstraction and exacerbate unintended outcomes. Using extensive case study research and ethnographic methods, I unpack three perverse spatial configurations on the peripheral slopes of Lima: the grid layout resulting in excessively steep access ways, electricity poles in the middle of staircases and dangerous evacuation routes. I demonstrate how manoeuvres of fragmentation, homogenisation, and hierarchical ordering, active in planning processes and legal texts, lead to material and corporeal violence that maintain dwellers in perpetual landscapes of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late Pleniglacial was characterized by different palaeoenvironmental and geographical modifications, which affected the diverse living beings that had to adapt to those peculiar conditions. This paper intends to explore how this phenomenon may have impacted the practices of the nomadic human populations who occupied the East European Plain during the last part of the Pleistocene, through their relation to the environments, landscapes, overall territories, and especially with other species in archaeological context. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, we performed an exhaustive review of the faunal record from an extensive set of archaeological recorded contexts ranging between 31.0 and 21.5 ka cal BP (26.0-18.0 ka 14C BP). We examined the seasons of occupations and the types of activities at each site, the global subsistence economies, as well as the technocultural practices and settlement patterns of the human groups. This research shed new light on the connections amongst different human groups and between humans and other animals, the socio-ecological systems that have been favored during this critical period of human prehistory in the East European Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We focus on two questions in this paper. First, are Indian cities suburbanizing or is their growth compact? Second, what explains the differences in suburbanization or compact growth across cities and regions? We answer these questions using granular, grid-level data from the Global Human Settlements Layer. We take three approaches to understanding the evolution of urban form. First, we explain changes in population density based on concentric rings around the city centre for 100 cities in India. Second, we use these same data to estimate population density gradients in 1975 and 2015. Finally, we use regressions to test hypotheses about relationships between city characteristics and the density gradient. We find that although cities in India densified within their 1975 city limits, they also expanded outward. We find the negative exponential density function is useful for studying urban form in India. South Indian cities and those in urbanized states sprawled more than their northern and less urbanized counterparts. Both the social conditions of central cities such as the literacy rate and the historical pattern of population suburbanization are statistically significantly associated with suburbanization. This suggests the need for greater investment in public infrastructure in central cities to support compact urban growth. • We use satellite data from the Global Human Settlements Layer for 100 Indian cities. • It is pioneering research on the spatial distribution of population in Indian cities. • The negative exponential density function is useful for studying urban form in India. • Cities in south India and the urbanized states sprawl more. • Literacy rates and the historical pattern of cities are associated with sprawl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remediation of rural human settlements is receiving increasing attention in contemporary China. Evaluating the resilience of rural human settlements and formulating site-specific remediation strategies are crucial for realizing China's rural revitalization goals. Based on the social-ecological system (SES) theory, this study establishes a theoretical framework for understanding the resilience of rural human settlements. Building upon this framework, an index system for assessing the resilience is constructed across three dimensions: the resource subsystem, the actor subsystem, and the governance subsystem. The study then analyzes the resilience level of rural human settlements and the interactions among these subsystems, using Chongqing Municipality as an example. The main study conclusions are as follows. First, the resilience index of rural human settlements in Chongqing exhibits spatial heterogeneity and imbalances among subsystems. Specifically, the average resilience index of the resource subsystem is lower than that of other subsystems and there is noticeable spatial heterogeneity in resilience indices among different counties. Second, resilience in rural human settlements is a complex outcome resulting from interactions among multiple subsystems within the SES. These subsystems interact through a two-factor enhancement and non-linear enhancement relationship. Third, the main barriers to the resilience in rural human settlements in Chongqing are related to the resource subsystem, particularly per capita wetland resources, followed by challenges within the governance and actor subsystem, such as rural population density. Fourth, the SES theory can better guide the resilience evaluation of rural human settlements. To improve that resilience, we recommend adopting a systemism perspective, treating rural human settlements as SES entities, and paying attention to the important role of rural inhabitants as the main body of environmental governance. Additionally, tailored environmental governance measures should be developed based on the resilience characteristics and interactions between the subsystems. The research results expand the application field of SES theory and provide novel insights and valuable theoretical guidance for studying the resilience of rural human settlements. ● Rural human settlements (RHS) are a typical social-ecological system (SES). ● The SES framework provides an important theoretical perspective for understanding and evaluating RHS resilience. ● The dimensions of actor and governance systems have an important impact on the resilience of RHS. ● This paper provides new empirical evidence from China to expand upon the conclusions of previous theoretical analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers insights from comprehensive case studies of rapidly growing peripheral settlements of Dar es Salaam. The paper explores how a broad range of services and infrastructures have developed and improved over time, and how residents have been engaged in this in various ways. The gradual improvements in services and infrastructure are to some extent created, organized and financed by residents through informal self-help solutions, which are often costly and place huge strains on residents' time and resources. Alongside this, residents are also involved in attracting formal service providers through applications, co-financing of network extensions as well as lobbying efforts towards urban authorities and service providers. The formal service providers primarily take a reactive role, responding to demand, requests and political pressure from residents. Post-settlement network extensions are often complicated and impeded by costly and cumbersome land-acquisition processes, and because of the reactive and often piecemeal approach to network extensions, society may be missing out on potential benefits of scale. The way urban services work also means that the provision of services and infrastructure is extremely differentiated and fragmented across the urban territory, creating and reinforcing major inequalities in access to services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns diachronic trends in human technological behaviors and settlements during the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic periods in the northeastern Levant. The paper reconsiders a conventional view that links an increase in Epipalaeolithic settlements in the northeastern Levant to the archaeological entity called “Geometric Kebaran”. We re-examine the variability of the “Geometric Kebaran” assemblages in the northeastern Levant by adding two new microlithic assemblages (Wadi Kharar 16K and 16AT′) from the middle Euphrates region. On the basis of several techno-typological attributes of microliths, we suggest that the two assemblages represent two major techno-typological variants. The first group, including Wadi Kharar 16K, is characterized by large scalene triangles and truncations in association with the microburin technique, while the second group, represented by Wadi Kharar 16AT′, is dominated by trapeze-rectangles. We then discuss technological trends in the northeastern Levant in comparison with those in the southern Levant, where more comparative assemblages and radiocarbon dates are available. We argue that the group dominated by trapeze-rectangles in the northeastern Levant corresponds techno-typologically and chronologically to the Geometric Kebaran in the southern Levant. It is more difficult to specify which industry in the southern Levant is most similar to the group with scalene triangles and truncations in the northeastern Levant, but the latter group shows several techno-typological features that occur in the Early Epipalaeolithic in the southern Levant. Based on these chrono-cultural correlations between the northeastern and southern Levant, we suggest that Epipalaeolithic settlements started to increase in the northeastern Levant earlier than traditionally thought, i.e., before the appearance of the Geometric Kebaran. The proposed revision of the timing for the settlement intensification in the northeastern Levant significantly leads to a certain degree of parallel with a recent model of settlement dynamics in the southeastern Levant near the Azraq Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on research on landslide risk reduction in Nepal and the impacts of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 in southern Thailand, this paper considers how risk, in the context of natural hazards, is produced by processes of social and economic transformation; understood and experienced by vulnerable groups; and framed by governments and experts. In so doing, we propose an agenda for more effective disaster risk management. We open the discussion by exploring the spatiality of risk, vulnerability and opportunity in the two research contexts, in particular, why people live in hazardous places and the processes that explain the intersection of human settlement and livelihoods on the one hand, and risk on the other. The paper then turns to consider the way that "risk"-and the framing and prioritisation of risk(s) by governments, experts and by vulnerable groups themselves-plays a role in setting the disaster risk management agenda. Underpinning this is the hidden question of what evidence is used-and valued-in the identification and delineation of risk. In order to understand disaster vulnerability, we argue that it is necessary to look beyond the immediate "hazardscape" to understand the wider risk context both spatially and structurally. Effective disaster risk management requires not only an appreciation of the different framings and understandings of risk, but a true integration of knowledge and expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a stone arrangement on Pabaju (Albany Island) near the tip of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. The island is part of the traditional lands of the Gudang Aboriginal people. The site ‘Tarrungi’ is one of a number of stone arrangements in this area, which we interpret as the tangible evidence of ritual exchange within a regional cosmo-political landscape. The site on Pabaju is important as it has not suffered the same degree of disturbance from tourists as similar sites on the nearby Australian mainland. The presence of buttons, flaked glass and other artefacts on the site are suggestive of rituals enacted just after European settlement. This was at a time of significant social and political upheaval for the Gudang people who bore the brunt of the impact of European settlement in the region as the settlement of Somerset was located in the heartland of their traditional lands a mere 3 km south south-east of Tarrungi. In this paper we explore the relationship between ritual, cosmological re-working of contested landscapes and colonial settlement through the lens of an archaeological site on one of Australia's most northerly islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the late nineteenth century Mabuyag (Mabuiag) became a major centre for pearlshelling (at Dhabangay on the north east coast) and a base for London Missionary Society (LMS) teachers (Dhabangay then Baw). During this period Islanders rubbed shoulders with Europeans, Japanese and Pacific Islanders (recruited either for pearling or LMS teaching). While a significant archive of historical records has been collected for the ensuing period of negotiations and restructured settlement in Torres Strait, archaeological studies rarely interrogate these events. This paper draws together results from four excavations at traditional villages on Mabuyag and a village established by the LMS at Baw to provide an integrated account of post-contact settlement in Torres Strait. Results suggest complex inter-relations between Islanders and new arrivals, with Islanders maintaining a level of independence, evident through continued settlement of ancestral villages, adherence to traditional subsistence practices and limited use of European-manufactured materials. This paper also isolates the problematic early phase of Islander–European negotiation through analysis of Venetian trade beads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the worldwide interest in global sustainability and climate change challenges, an increasing concern is voiced on local quality of life and neighbourhood liveability. In recent urban studies, human well-being, satisfaction and happiness studies are gaining much popularity in a local context (the 'microcosmic city'). The present study seeks to identify the determinants of the residents' appreciation for their daily environment, called here ' city love '. The latter concept captures both tangible or material aspects of city life (' body ') and immaterial and emotional dimensions of local quality of life (' soul '). The present paper seeks to develop and test a new quantitative ' city love ' concept, inspired by the soul and body conceptualisation of urban attractiveness for residents and visitors – based on a novel ' feelgood ' index (FGI) and a ' human habitat' index (HHI) –, with a view to map out the citizens' contentment or appreciation (called neighbourhood love index – NLI) at a district or neighbourhood scale in the city of Rotterdam. Our study utilises data from a quantitative survey among thousands of residents located in 63 neighbourhoods in this city. In addition, the Rotterdam dataset contains not only survey data, but also register data on these neighbourhoods, e.g., real-estate values, crime statistics, and socio-demographics, while geographical information from OpenStreetMap (OSM) is added as a complement. In addition to a multivariate analysis of the rich data set, the paper employs also a quantile regression analysis extended with fixed effects. The results show that the coefficients of the feelgood index (FGI) and the human habitat index (HHI) decrease slightly as we move up the distribution of the neighbourhood love index (NLI). This means that physical and functional aspects of neighbourhoods, e.g., access to such amenities as public transportation, sport facilities, and also streets with diverse attractions or bikeable and walkable road networks, become more important for the lower end of the distribution of the neighbourhood love index (NLI). Our neighbourhood-specific analyses show that the Rotterdam districts and neighbourhoods differ substantially in many physical and social-emotional respects, which calls for place-based policies and sub-local well-being initiatives. • Develop and test a new quantitative 'city love' concept which captures local tangible and emotional dimensions. • Presenting a 'feelgood' and 'human habitat' index for assessing city's multi-faceted aspects of residents' appreciation. • Case study on Rotterdam uses advanced multi-variate modelling techniques in order to cope with the big database available. • Differentiations in neighbourhoods liveability and city love suggest the need for place-based wellbeing initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paradigm shift in water management is recognized as a necessary and fundamental step for adaptation to climate change and crucial for furthering sustainability. In contexts of rapid urbanization, this paradigm shift is particularly challenged since social and environmental needs often come into conflict. In Bogotá, as other Latin-American cities, demands for new housing are increasing daily, while the overall housing deficit remains an unresolved problem. Currently, the city faces the challenges to deal with the pressure to continue to urbanize flood prone areas with low-cost housing projects and simultaneously protect these areas in view of flooding, which promise to increase with the predictions of climate change. In order to contribute to context-responsive solutions to the water and housing issues, this paper investigates the shifting relations between settlement patterns, water infrastructure and landscape in Bogotá's El Tintal watershed. This sub-watershed of the Bogotá River has a rich history of formal and informal low-cost housing. The critical reading of the landscape transformation of the El Tintal has shown how the water system interventions were and can be instrumental in different stages of development. This reading was the base to elaborate design investigations that could translate to spatial adaptation measures. This paper argues that “soft” water management tools can be part of a twofold strategy to create spatial quality and provide resilience for more qualitative future urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a synthesis on the existing of the role of plants on the adaptive strategies of human groups that settled in Northwest South America since the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. To contextualize the analysis, a brief description of the Colombian Pleistocene sites is presented. The paper presents a broad description of the lithic technology, archaeobotanical record and radiocarbon dates. Plant resources played a key role in the settling of human groups in the forests of the Neotropics. Furthermore, it is suggested that for some areas there is evidence of cultivation as a strategy to increase the carrying capacity of the surrounding environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implicitly, Arabic literatures address the notions of ‘Umran’ and urban design. In Egypt, there are two terms used to describe the art of cities. This paper aims to disengage and delineate the terminologies in the field of building human settlements. The research starts with a thoroughly inductive analysis of the concept of urban design theories and discourse. The exploratory-descriptive approach follows some development projects that use urban design for several types of settlements neither a city nor town. Finally, the paper proves that ‘Umran Design’ is not opposite to ‘urban design’. This gets a recommendation to make urban design works in cities/town as well as provides experts who are aware of the national context with opportunities to follow the design process other types of human settlements. The disengagement can give a room in applicable research projects for the Arabic expression to work on communities hold a variety of types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing for the urban poor remains a significant challenge in South African cities. Post 1994 the South African state engaged in a large-scale housing programme delivering over 3 million state subsidised homes. However, housing policy since 2004 has shifted away from the delivery of housing units to the development of integrated human settlements. The national state has identified large scale mixed use projects, such as Cornubia in Durban, as the new approach. This paper explores the discourses constructed by multiple actors, including the national and local state, the private sector, technical experts (consultants) and civil society as they have shaped the development of this mixed use ‘housing’ project over time. The paper reveals the multiple ways in which space is constructed in a megaproject that is intended to address both pro-growth and pro-poor goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate and detailed geographical information digitizing human activity patterns plays an essential role in response to natural disasters. Volunteered geographical information, in particular OpenStreetMap (OSM), shows great potential in providing the knowledge of human settlements to support humanitarian aid, while the availability and quality of OSM remains a major concern. The majority of existing works in assessing OSM data quality focus on either extrinsic or intrinsic analysis, which is insufficient to fulfill the humanitarian mapping scenario to a certain degree. This paper aims to explore OSM missing built-up areas from an integrative perspective of social sensing and remote sensing. First, applying hierarchical DBSCAN clustering algorithm, the clusters of geo-tagged tweets are generated as proxies of human active regions. Then a deep learning based model fine-tuned on existing OSM data is proposed to further map the missing built-up areas. Hit by Cyclone Idai and Kenneth in 2019, the Republic of Mozambique is selected as the study area to evaluate the proposed method at a national scale. As a result, 13 OSM missing built-up areas are identified and mapped with an over 90% overall accuracy, being competitive compared to state-of-the-art products, which confirms the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of population and land from rural to urban areas has been widely explored; however, the spatial change in rural settlements and its relations to population changes involved in urbanization have been ignored. This paper aims to reveal the underlying human-land relationship from the perspective of rural settlement urbanization (RSU). Based on identifying the spatiotemporal characteristics of RSU in Wuhan city circle from 2009 to 2016, we analyzed the human-land relations using a combination of a dynamic coupling model and a decoupling model. The results showed that a total area of 27.77 km2 (accounting for 0.81% of the level in 2009) of rural settlements was converted to urban construction land from 2009 to 2016. Although the rural population decreased by 32.21%, the overall size of rural settlements increased by 104.62 km2, and 37 counties had a low-level coordination between population urbanization and RSU. Only 2 counties emerged with high-level coordination in this process. Additionally, the changes in rural settlements and rural population showed a strong negative decoupling; that is, the population decreased while the area of rural settlements increased. Combining the decoupling results with the coupling analysis, eight human-land relationship patterns in rural settlement urbanization were identified, and "strong negative decoupling–low-level coupling" was the main pattern observed in counties, which summarized the human-land relations in most RSU and should be given priorities in improving rural human-land relationships. The question of how to promote harmonious human-land relationships lies at the core of promoting balanced urban-rural development. This research could provide a decision-making basis for formulating a sustainable development strategy for urban-rural integration. • The spatiotemporal characteristics of rural settlement urbanization were analyzed in Wuhan city circle during 2009–2016. • A low-level coordination of the human-land relationship was observed in rural settlement urbanization. • Eight human-land relationship patterns in rural settlement urbanization were identified. • "Strong negative decoupling–low-level coupling" was the most common manifestation in rural settlement urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most parts of the Circumpolar Arctic have only discontinuous evidence for long-term human settlement. In contrast, Northern Norway has an unbroken archaeological record that extends back to the early Holocene. Numerous high-resolution archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records have been generated by commercial excavations and surveys, offering archaeologists unique opportunities to investigate long-term human ecodynamics in an Arctic coastal setting. To date, however, deeper analysis of the new datasets has yet to be undertaken. This paper aims to present a new synthesis of early and mid Holocene archaeological and paleoenvironmental sequences for Western Finnmark (11500-2000 cal BP). This enables us to identify three major phases of culture change that broadly correlate with climatic and environmental shifts. We then present emerging results from our multi-scalar analysis of the processes driving these transformations. At supra-regional and regional scales, our palaeodemographic modelling indicates major population events centered around 6000 cal BP and 4000 cal BP. At intra-regional scales, we are identifying spatial clustering of prehistoric settlements into local socio-economic communities. At the scale of local settlements, our analysis of house-pit chronologies is clarifying the degree of simultaneous occupation and re-use. We also draw on recent research into rock art and ritual landscapes in an effort to reconstruct the relationship between settlement clusters and general interaction patterns. Integration of these diverse lines of evidence is generating a vivid picture of thriving Arctic coastal communities, with indications that the timing and pace of cultural responses to climatic and environmental changes were more complex than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Storegga tsunami (8175-8120 cal. BP, Bondevik et al., 2012) has often been described as a catastrophe spelling major disaster and demographic decline for the people in the danger zone. More nuance is needed if we are to understand the effects. Most studies have had a supra-regional or regional character; less effort seems to have put into studies at the sub-regional level. The Norwegian coast, for example, is a topographic, bathymetric and environmental mosaic and the sub-regional and local effects must surely have been different. This paper discusses the possible effects of the Storegga tsunami on the human settlement of inner Varangerfjord in northern Norway some 2000 km from the point of origin. Central to the discussion are the questions of: a) actual presence of people at the time of the event, b) safe altitudes above sea-level for settlement, c) the geological record and the compounding effects of the Tapes transgression, d) the archaeological record, and e) the combined effects of the Storegga tsunami and the 8200 cal. BP cold event and hunter-fisher-gatherer resilience. It is concluded that 1) the vertical run-up of the Storegga tsunami in inner Varangerfjord probably was 2 m or less, 2) the impact of the 8200 cal. BP cold event on the ecology of Finnmark was relatively weak, and 3) the combined effect of both on human life probably was minor given a high degree of resilience among the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human settlement extent (HSE) information is a valuable indicator of world-wide urbanization as well as the resulting human pressure on the natural environment. Therefore, mapping HSE is critical for various environmental issues at local, regional, and even global scales. This paper presents a deep-learning-based framework to automatically map HSE from multi-spectral Sentinel-2 data using regionally available geo-products as training labels. A straightforward, simple, yet effective fully convolutional network-based architecture, Sen2HSE, is implemented as an example for semantic segmentation within the framework. The framework is validated against both manually labelled checking points distributed evenly over the test areas, and the OpenStreetMap building layer. The HSE mapping results were extensively compared to several baseline products in order to thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed HSE mapping framework. The HSE mapping power is consistently demonstrated over 10 representative areas across the world. We also present one regional-scale and one country-wide HSE mapping example from our framework to show the potential for upscaling. The results of this study contribute to the generalization of the applicability of CNN-based approaches for large-scale urban mapping to cases where no up-to-date and accurate ground truth is available, as well as the subsequent monitor of global urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First quantitative nation-wide assessment of infilling in Germany. • Quantitative assessment of infilling based on small-scale 100 × 100 m grid cells. • Study covers 4389 municipalities and a period of more than 30 years (1979–2011). • In-depth analyses based on building types, Local Moran's I and OLS regressions. • Robust and well-suited methodology for evaluations at regional or national level. To achieve the German government's 30-hectare land take per day target, infilling is considered a key planning guideline. However, there are hardly any valid empirical results on the extent of residential construction activity realised as infilling. This is due, on the one hand, to the fuzziness of what constitutes an inner urban area as a spatial construct in German law and planning practice and, on the other hand, to the lack of small-scale data on construction activity. This paper presents a methodology – based on the open data of the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) and the 2011 German Census – to determine and assess for the first time the relevance of infilling at a nationwide level over a period of more than 30 years. The methodology is applied to the 9.409.547 new housing units built in Germany between 1979 and 2011. The result shows a positive trend, indicating that German cities have succeeded over the course of time in boosting infilling. At the same time, major differences between urban and rural areas become apparent, with urban and more central regions being more successful in directing residential construction activity towards existing settlements and already-developed areas. Therefore, a key recommendation is to encourage and support especially smaller municipalities in their infilling efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]